"An Ecosystem's Disturbance By A Pollutant

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can kill off the entire population. Non-target effects are those that
effects a significant number of individuals and spreads over to other
individuals, such is the case when crop dusters spread herbicides, insecticides.
Next we look at population damage by a pollutant, which in turn has a
detrimental effect on the ecosystem in several ways. First, by the killing of an
entire population by a pollutant, it offsets the food chain and potentially
kills off other species that depended on that organism for food. Such is the
case when a keystone species is killed. If predators were the dominant species
high on the food chain, the organisms that the predator keep to a minimum could
massively over produce creating a disturbance in the delicate balance of
carrying capacity in the ecosystem. Along with this imbalance another potential
problem in an ecosystem is the possibility of the pollutant accumulating in the
(lipophilic) fat cells. As the pollutant makes it way through the food chain ...

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potential growth
rate multiplied by the carrying capacity level. Three major characteristics
exist for this equation. First, that the rate of growth is density dependent,
the larger the population, the slower it will grow. Secondly, the population
growth is not limited and will reach a stable maximum. Lastly, the speed at
which a population approaches its maximum value is solely determined by the rate
of increase (r). In a population with a stable age structure this would be the
birth rate minus the death rate, but this is almost impossible. If any of the
variables in this equation are affected by a pollutant then the growth rate of
an organism can be seriously affected which can in ...

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